Justice is served, piecemeal. In the article “Government to take further steps to curb wardens” (TMID 25 May) the Minister of Justice Dr Tonio Borg was amazed at the large number of fines issued for “licence not properly affixed to windscreen”. He has comprehended that there is injustice fining an act that can only be attributed to ignorance, misinformation or carelessness on the part of the vehicle owner. An ‘infringement’ that could be rectified with a good word put in by the marauding men and women in green.

Dr Borg reminded the House (Parliament) that the warden system is not administered by the central government but by the nine tribunals of the local councils. Have the tribunals become an institution higher than the mandate given to parliamentarians? Enact laws to curb any injustice!

Dr Borg must not stop and be content with having thrown a morsel to the growling pack of road vehicle users. If the Minister is seeking to create a just traffic supervisory system, he should identify other types of ‘infringements’ that are unjustly fined.

Is there justice fining a vehicle with a non functioning light bulb if a reasonable period of time is not given to the owner to be aware of the malfunction and to be able to rectify it?

Is there justice in fining a vehicle with a damaged light cluster if a reasonable period of time is not given to the owner to repair the damage?

Is there justice in fining a vehicle with damage caused in a recent road accident if a reasonable period of time is not given to the owner to organise repair?

Is there justice in fining a vehicle with low tyre pressure if the owner was not aware of the defect and a reasonable period of time is not given to rectify the situation?

In these and other situations, justice is administered only when these technical shortcomings are given a reasonable and appropriate time to be put right.

If Justice is truly close to Minister Borg’s heart, may I suggest that for all infringements that share characteristics similar to the mentioned examples, a warden warning system is introduced in the shortest time, whereby owners are informed of the repairs that have to be carried out, what time interval is allowed for repairs to be completed; owners will then have to demonstrate that repair has taken place by reporting to a technical unit at the local council with payment of a reasonable administrative fee of say Lm2.

Dr Albert M. Bezzina

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